On Friday, September 30, 2016, the Friendswood Mustangs hosted the Clear Falls Knights in the second week of district play for district 24-6A. This was also the annual Patriotic Halftime performance. Both teams came into the game 0-1 in district play.
If you read my blog last week, you know how unhappy I was with the officials not calling fouls. I definitely can't say the same about this week. By my unofficial count, there were 20 flags during the game. Not all the penalties were accepted, but I counted 13 against Clear Falls and 7 against Friendswood. While at times it seemed like there was a flag on every play, I would much rather see this than see obvious fouls ignored.
I think it's fair to say that Friendswood dominated Clear Falls on both sides of the ball Friday night. It took a little bit for Friendswood to get settled, but once they did, there was no question about who was the stronger team. Friendswood received the kick off and used 9 plays to get to the end zone, employing a couple of good fakes to get there. Blackburn and Halata shared running back duties during the game and Halata showed that the transition from defense to offense may have been the right move. Swaney also got his hands on the ball during the opening drive. Once Friendswood got on the board, it was off to the races and a new school record for most points scored during a single game. Before that record was set, Page set a new record for most rushing yards by a Mustang. Since there are still 5 regular season games left this season, there's no telling how high that number will be. Offensive touchdowns were scored by Page, Roher, Bell, Klump, Nemecek & Halata.
Friendswood's defense did give up one touchdown and a 2 point conversion, but also scored twice - once on a pick 6 by Owens and once on a picked up loose ball by Hermes. Ford also had an interception during the game. Despite playing a great game, the defense did demonstrate a few areas that aren't perfect, yet. Both while the starters were playing and more so when the 2nd and 3rd string players were in, there were too many holes in the middle of the field. Clear Falls was able to take advantage of those holes and gain yardage several times. That can't happen when Friendwood faces teams with a stronger offense. And defense - sometimes an interception or a batted down pass is better than a sack. Don't solely focus on the sack and miss other opportunities. Another concerning thing I saw was arm tackling. Again, this was during the second half when the starters became observers, but all players should demonstrate proper technique. If that doesn't happen, then what happens when the backups become the starters?
Despite this technique error, the coaches are being listed in the atta-boys for this week. This year, the coaches have shown more variety in their play calling. This makes things much more difficult for the opposing defense and is, in my opinion, part of the reason Friendswood has scored 219 points in 4 games.
When you see the box score below, or if you've already seen the final score from the game, you may be thinking that Friendswood is rude and shows poor sportsmanship in running up the score. Depending upon the circumstances, I might agree with you - but not in this situation. For the most part, the starting offense only played the first half. During the entire second half, the offense was made up of 2nd and 3rd string players - players who work their tails off day in and day out and rarely get to see any real playing time under the Friday night lights. The only offensive player I can think of who played during both halves of the game is Halata, who was making his first varsity start on offense. Before Friday night, the sophomore had been playing defensive back. It's not fair to the backups, and their backups to be told they have to hold back because the starters played so well. Those kids deserve the chance to show what they can do. Some of the defensive starters did play during the 3rd quarter, but I don't think any of them played during the 4th quarter. The backups shouldn't have to lay down and play dead because of how well the starters played.
Clear Falls should be commended also. No matter how bad things looked for them, they didn't give up. They played all 4 quarters and though it was not their night, they still showed that they have heart.
The box score for Friday night's game is
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q Total
Clear Falls Knights 0 8 0 0 8
Friendswood Mustangs 21 35 21 7 84
This week's atta-boys list is longer than usual, but all of these players deserve a pat on the back. This week's list is: Swaney, Page, Blackburn, Owens, Roher, Bell, Halata, Nickerson, Hermes, Ford, Roenne, Coyle, Karam, Klump, Nemecek, Slaughter, the O-line, the d-backs and the coaches/play callers.
Next week Friendswood (3-1, 1-1) travels to CCISD's Veteran's Memorial Stadium to take on a Clear Brook team that is surprising people with their improvements over last year. Clear Brook (4-1, 2-0) has a new head coach this year and his changes have shown a positive improvement for that team. The Wolverines will take on the Mustangs on Friday, October 7, 2016 at 7pm.
GO MUSTANGS!!
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